INTRADA Announces:
EMPEROR OF THE NORTH/CAPRICE
Composed and Conducted by FRANK DeVOL
INTRADA Special Collection Volume 68
It is 1933: the middle of the Great Depression. Hobos ride the great trains through the American wilderness. One such train travels up and down the northwestern seaboard, manned by a psychotic brakeman named Shack (Ernest Borgnine), who will remorselessly kill anyone caught riding without a ticket. It is Engine No. 19: his train. Cigaret (Keith Carradine) is a thoroughly disgusting, wannabe rail legend, who makes up stories of his derring-do, with no sand or brains to back them up. The real McCoy is A-No.1, played by Lee Marvin, a character hewn from the canyon walls who goes wherever he pleases, his life the subject of campfire stories the length and breadth of the territory. In order to teach the boy a lesson, and to show him how a real man goes about things, A-No.1 plans to ride the rails on Shack’s train—the whole way, with only death at the end of the line for the loser. Such is the life of the. Emperor of the North
Frank DeVol provided a musical canvas that heightened the Emperor of the North’s tense dramatics, as well as drawing into sharper focus its somewhat schizophrenic tone. The song that opens Emperor of the North strikes a paradoxical note: acting as a prelude before the “Main Titles,” “A Man and a Train,” with lyrics by Mack David, implies we are about to be transported to a bucolic land of rural train spotters. Not so much. Much of Devol’s music for Emperor is very effective, especially the action material: “Burning Freight” for the moments in which Lee Marvin sets fire to the carriage they are riding in; “Fog Time,” for the cunning deception in eluding Shack; “On the Trestle,” for the genuinely nerve-wracking climb from a high bridge; “Box Fights” (much longer here than in the film), for the ultimate smack-down between Marvin and Borgnine. The score to Emperor of the North was rescored and manipulated extensively in the film (well documented by Nick Redman in his liner notes). This CD, presented from the original mono elements, features the score as originally conceived by Devol.
In sharp contrast, the second feature score on this disc is Caprice, made in 1967, which seemingly steps out of old show business, where screwball comedies reigned supreme. But like Emperor, it features a score by Frank DeVol. Patricia Foster (Doris Day) is an industrial designer for a cosmetics firm based in Paris. Somehow, she’s caught spying, and becomes involved with a rival firm in Los Angeles, where she partners debonair Richard Harris, who is some sort of double-agent.
Film scores from the 1960s film scores often sported a rambunctious mélange of styles and attitudes; a crazy-quilt of aural amusement. This is pure DeVol country and he doesn’t disappoint: from the wacky “Snow-Covered Mountains” to the unabashed fun of “Parked Car” and “Hanging Hair,” DeVol struts his stuff. “Flowers” is gentle and sweet, “The Fountain” romantic and charming. Action kicks it big time in “Helicopter,” and its subsequent shenanigans. It's all here in this frenetic, colorful score. The score to Caprice is presented from the original stereo session tapes.
This release is limited to 1200 copies.
INTRADA Special Collection - Volume 68
Retail Price: $19.99
IN STOCK NOW
For track listing and sound samples, please visit
http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.5815/.f
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